Q. How often should my car's air filter be replaced?
If your vehicles air filter looks anything like this one, it is time to change your air filter. As with most routine maintenance items your vehicles manufacturer will suggest a change interval. There are a number of factors that can significantly effect the life of a vehicle's air filter. Most of us can understand why driving on dusty unpaved roads would shorten an air filters life but manufactures will call for shorter change intervals in other instances. One of these is very common in the DFW area, driving in heavy traffic on hot days.can result in significantly short functional life of your vehicles air filter. So engine air filters in some instances may need to be changed as often as every 15,000 and in extreme case even short periods. Under good conditional an air filter can last between 30,000 to 45,000 miles. The
point is there is now way to know if your air filter needs changing without looking. We routinely check customers air filters and one of our technician may suggest changing yours. Normally out technician if he is suggesting a new air filter will show you your current filter. If that is not the cas. please feel free to ask our tech to see your cars air filter before making a decision as to whether or not you want to change it.
Air filters are an important part of your vehicles fuel system but putting off changing one until the your next oil change will usually not case any damage, but do not ignore your engines air filter. In a Department of Energy 2009 study, they found that a dirty/clogged air filter can result in a 6% to 11% drop in fuel economy. That kind of drop can really added to some real money, in a relatively short period of time. Even with todays lower fuels price an 11% drop in fuel econemy does not take long to more then offset the cost of replacing your air filter.